I didn't expect a whole lot when I went to the Children's Museum with my son (almost 3), having read some other reviews. We visited on a Monday, midday, and it was packed with school children who were there for a field trip. It's not a large place to begin with, but when you squeeze a couple bus loads of kids into it, getting around to various exhibits can be a challenge.
We managed to find places where the schools kids weren't swarming, and my son loved the museum.
He had a great time playing with the fire engine, jumping around a room with odd shapes and structures for balancing/climbing, but the best part was the upper floor. There is a large area for building skyscrapers, buildings, or whatever else you could come up with. It probably is better suited for kids 5 and up, but my son could have spent the whole day there (with a little help putting some of the wooden poles together with nuts and bolts).

I really liked this aquarium a few years back when I first visited, but since then I've gotten into the hobby of aquarium keeping and visited several different aquariums - coming back, and this time, with a toddler - was a little underwhelming.
Don't get me wrong, as most of the other reviews state, they have great exhibits and fish/animal displays - and you can't find beluga whales in too many other places.
The issues I had with the Shedd stem from my bringing my son in a stroller, something the people who designed the various additions to the aquarium over the years did not plan well for. Anyone visiting with a stroller will find the various levels very tedious to navigate, especially when the crowds start piling in. Once lines start forming, you'll be waiting forever to go up or down a level as several key elevators are tiny (like the one for the cafeteria) and can't fit more than a handful of people w/ strollers at a time.
What really annoyed me during this last visit (on a Saturday) was that we arrived early to beat the crowds, but found that the entire lower level (where the whales, penguins, toddler area, etc. can be found) were all closed off for a couple hours for a private event. That was a bit frustrating, especially since it took queuing up for a couple elevator rides to get down there.
Costs for tickets are on the high end, but not too far off of what other nice aquariums or attractions may charge. Parking can be pricey, but we took public transportation (the bus) which stops just a short walk from the aquarium. If you're planning a visit, do arrive early - as we were leaving in the early afternoon, literally hundreds of people were still in line to get in.

I brought my 2 1/2 year old son here on a whim after aborting a hike with him further up in the Saratoga hills (it had rained the previous day and the trails were still too muddy). It worked out perfectly, though, as we were one of the first to arrive at this Japanese garden tucked just a few minutes away from downtown Saratoga.

My son and I had a great time walking along all the well-maintained paths and trails around the estate, and since we arrived just before 10am, it felt like we had the entire garden to ourselves. The paths down by the pond were very easy to stroll around, but the trails further up the hill were a little steeper and more slippery (because of the rain) so my toddler still ended up quite muddy. We spent about 45 minutes here, briskly covering all the paths we could find and then checking out the koi pond and waterfalls. The garden started filling up by the time we were leaving, as a bus load of school children unloaded for a field trip, and moms with strollers and similar aged toddlers started crowding the paths. Come early to fully experience the tranquility of this beautiful garden.

I don't know if I can add much more than what other reviewers have noted, but we just got home from a trip to Monterey and Dennis the Menace Playground was one of the highlights for my 2 1/2 year old son. We stopped by this park just before hitting the road for our drive back and it was the perfect thing to do to wear him out and allow him to fall asleep quickly for the ride home.

This park is huge, with multiple play structures, a maze, a long suspension bridge, a massive locomotive to explore, enormous slides, paddle boating, and even a skate park for older kids. There's enough here to occupy even the most difficult to please families. The only downside is that the parking can get ugly with anxious parents fighting over very limited spaces.

This hotel was top rated on another travel website, but it just reinforced the need for Trekaroo's presence in the online travel space focusing on families. It's definitely a romantic hotel and the room we stayed in was very nice, but for families with young children who need naps or who go to sleep relatively early, you might want to look at another hotel.

It's located in a very convenient spot, right on Cannery Row and perfect for exploring all the tourist attractions. There are kayak and bike rentals in the area, the Monterey Bay Aquarium a 5 minute walk away, and lots of restaurants and shops. The hotel includes breakfast delivered to your room each morning, features real fireplaces in every room, and an antique decor which appealed to my wife and gives it an old bed and breakfast feel. Although the rooms are large, there is lots of furniture in each one, but a highlight is the nook by the bay windows in each room allowing you to lounge in the room and soak in the views. My wife really appreciated the warmed floors in the bathroom, soft water, turndown service, and all the little details in the room that the hotel pays attention to. They also serve afternoon tea in the small lobby with cheese, crackers and wine.

The catch is, on weekends, there is a LOT of noise. As nice as the hotel accommodations were, what we found lacking was their soundproofing - we could here every car, truck, motorcycle, etc. passing down the very busy street. Naptime in the afternoon for our 2 1/2 year old was challenging, and loud noises from people and music from neighboring restaurants and bars didn't stop on the weekend until about 1:00am. I'm writing this review at 7:00am on a Sunday morning (our 2nd day here) and it's the quietest time of the day. Nonetheless, I can here gardeners with their blowers down the street, room service serving breakfast to neighbors, and lots and lots of seagulls.

If you value your quiet in a hotel, I'd look elsewhere; if you'd like to try this hotel anyway, be sure to book a room facing the water and not the street, and maybe a room on the top floor. You'll still hear some of the din of the busy touristy area, but hopefully the ocean might drown much of it away. It's definitely geared more for couples more than for families, but despite the issues we had with the noise, we enjoyed this hotel and the convenient location in the Cannery Row area. My wife would give it 5 stars for couples, enjoying the quaint and smaller size of the hotel, but agrees with me on our above rating for families. Our son thoroughly enjoyed the room service for breakfast, bouncing on the cushy couches, the window nook, playing at the beach outside and on the rooftop deck - but I cringe to think of what our neighbors in the hotel think of his excited squeals and loud yelling while we were in our room.

Note: There is very limited parking in this area, so we used the valet service ($18/day). We thought it made sense to not worry about parking and just use this service, but the wait was far too long to get our car whenever we wanted to use it. There were only 2 people working at the hotel helping guests with their luggage, cars, etc., so if you happen to need your car when other people are arriving or checking out, be prepared to wait 30 minutes or so to get it.